SECRETARY'S REPORT. 55 



But for the usual mode of transplanting the vines, the fall is 

 generally preferred, though there seems to be no difficulty in 

 making them live when transplanted at any season of the year. 

 I have known them transplanted in the middle of summer, and 

 to live and do well. But if the planting be done in the fall, 

 they take root in the spring and grow more vigorously the first 

 year, than they otherwise would. For this reason, if tho 

 ground can be made ready in the fall, it is desirable to have 

 the vines set out then, and they will thus ordinarily have the 

 start of those planted the following spring, by two or three 

 months. If planted in the autumn, they will also bear a little 

 the next summer, and the crop will increase gradually till the 

 fourth or fifth year, when it seems to attain its highest yield. 

 Circumstances may make some difference in the length of time 

 which must pass before a full crop is obtained, as, if the vines 

 are much choked up by grass, and retarded in their growth by 

 want of care. The statement made above, both as to the time 

 ordinarily required, and as to the effect of the unfavorable 

 circumstances alluded to, is confirmed by the experience of 

 many who have been engaged in the cultivation of cranberries 

 long enough to have had opportunities of extended observa- 

 tion on the subject. There seems to be no reason why the 

 crop should diminish after the fifth year, nor is it certain that 

 it will, as a general rule ; yet it is evident that if, at this age, 

 the thrifty and healthy vines have covered the whole ground, 

 they will be likely to bear to their utmost capacity. Probably, 

 after the seventh or eighth year, it will be found to be well to 

 rake or stir the surface under the vines so far as it can be done, 

 or perhaps, to spread over them a thin covering of sand or 

 loam. 



The Yield. — The yield will vary according to circumstances, 

 but about one hundred and fifty bushels per acre will be a fair 

 average ; though an acre in full bearing will often produce 

 more than two hundred bushels. In a very large number of 

 cases, a bushel to the square rod has been gathered without 

 much trouble of cultivation. In one lot visited by me, more 

 than three bushels to a rod, or at the rate of four hundred 

 and eighty bushels to the acre, on two or three rods, were 

 obtained from very thrifty vines on a peat bottom, with a thin 



